


Reunion

by CoffeeCats



Series: Destiny 2 [13]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: the gang's all here folks!, unrelated - will i ever learn how to tag for OCs?, who knows but certainly not me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 12:31:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15729462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoffeeCats/pseuds/CoffeeCats
Summary: Things get a little better for everyone.





	Reunion

Sound was strangely muffled in the ruined building. Lox wasn’t sure if it was the material or if it was deafened by the sound of her own heart in her ears. They’d been searching and dodging Cabal for a few days now but Monday had finally picked up a signal from Mava’s Ghost. He was somewhere in the crumbling remains of this old city but wasn’t answering any of their calls and Lox had been trying not to think of what that could mean.

She had decided to sweep the larger building first but so far she hadn’t found much. Glass was shattered and walls were scorched but it was difficult to tell at a glance if it was recent and she was less interested in the scenery than she was in looking for very specific armor.

The faintest hint of another’s Light tickled her senses and she pushed herself to run even faster – dashing through halls and hurling herself up flights of stairs with no regards to her surroundings. She paused for a moment on a massive landing to try to orient herself and pinpoint the source of the Light.

A breathy giggle of excitement escaped her as she realized it was _close_ and she set into another sprint through a set of open doors and into a large reception area. She vaulted over a desk and dashed down the hallway behind it, sprint turning into a slide as she prepared to turn a corner. There was just enough time as she slid into the intersection to register a person-shape and then a gun-shape before she felt a concussive blast and then nothing and then the all-over tingle of resurrection.

“You… _you shot me!_ ”

Something akin to a gasp came from Mava and the muzzle of her shotgun dropped toward the floor as she whispered, “Lox?”

Monday dissolved her helmet to remove any doubt from the titan’s mind and Lox realized she had no idea what to say. How were you supposed to greet someone you’d had no contact with for nearly a year? Mava’s whisper held so much disbelief and fear, like she didn’t believe Lox was actually standing before her.

Lox awkwardly cleared her throat. “Hey.”

Mava dropped her gun and lunged forward to pull the hunter into a crushing hug. “You’re alive,” she whispered, followed by a static-ladened burst of laughter. “ _You’re alive!_ ”

She stepped back from the hug but kept her hands on Lox’s shoulders. Lox rubbed the back of her hand across her eyes and huffed a quiet laugh. All the time she’d spent imagining finding her teammates again and she never expected it to be enough to make her cry.

“Takes more than the Cabal, I guess.”

Mava nodded, her throat lights flashing with happiness and then with confusion.

“Wait… is Lio with you?” she asked.

Lox’s stomach dropped, her joy immediately replaced by dread. “She’s not with you? Where is she? What happened?”

Mava shook her head. “No, no. She’s… She’s safe.” She looked around, like she was noticing her surroundings for the first time and muttered, “How long has it been?”

“Mava? Hey, hey, focus.” Lox couldn’t interpret Mava’s new flickering throat lights, but she at least had her attention. “Let’s get back to my ship and we’ll figure this out there, ok? I don’t know how long we’ll be free of enemies here.”

“Right… right.” Mava hesitated, but then grabbed her gun from the ground and gestured for Lox to lead the way.

It wasn’t far to their transmat zone but it felt like an eternity. She had no idea what had happened or where Lio was and she was starting to suspect not all was well with Mava. Monday brushed her thoughts with as much reassurance as he could offer. He knew no more than she did but was trying to stay convinced it would be ok.

As soon as they were aboard Monday manifested momentarily before disappearing into a bulkhead to make sure they were in a safe orbit. Mava dropped into a seat with a shaky sigh.

“Lox, what if she’s—”

“Hey, no, none of that.” Lox cut her off. It wouldn’t do anyone any good to think of the worst-case scenario right now. “We’ll find her, ok? The planet’s only so big and we’ve already swept part of it.”

Mava groaned and dropped her head into her hands, bracing her elbows on her knees.

“Are you ok?” Lox asked. Was this just what happened if you went without light for too long?

“No? I don’t know.” She dropped her hands with another sigh. “I think we will be but something’s not right. Kepler’s not talking to me and I can’t… I think I lost a lot of time.”

Monday’s wave of concern echoed her own. Kepler was a fairly quiet ghost but he always responded to Mava when she wanted to talk.

Lox drew in a deep breath. “Ok. One problem at a time. We’ll find Lio and we’ll get you both back to the City and we’ll get everything fixed from there, alright? Do you remember the last place Lio was? Do you have any idea where she might be?”

“We were… we were running from Cabal and I… I made us split up.” Mava’s lights started flickering again and her voice took on a tone of distress. “I gave her Kepler and sent her into a storm alone and I don’t know… I don’t know how far she made it. What if I made the wrong choice?”

Lox hugged Mava as best she could in the somewhat cramped space and crouched down, still holding onto the Titan’s hands.

“Mava, listen to me. I am certain you made the best decision you could because that’s what you’ve _always_ done and I am promising you right now that it’s all going to be ok. If I’ve learned _anything_ recently, it’s that things will work out in the end.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Lox huffed in mock offense. “I’m _always_ right. Now, do you remember where you sent her?”

Mava hummed quietly for a moment. “Mountains. I saw a shelter buried in them when I was flying over once, but never had a chance to investigate.”

Lox clapped her shoulder as she stood and shouted, “Monday! Map, please!”

 

* * *

 

The howl of the engines rattled through the little ship as Lox pushed it to its limit. Mava’s mountain range was the best lead they had and she was determined to get there as quickly as possible, for Lio’s sake as well as for Mava’s. She was worried for the titan and felt the quicker they found Lio and got back to the Traveler the better.

“Wait!” Monday shouted.

The ship lurched as Lox flinched from the unexpected noise and she heard Mava grunt as she braced herself against the bulkhead.

“What?” she asked, not without irritation. She didn’t like being startled and they still had at least 15 minutes to the mountains Mava had indicated.

“Go back, I felt Light.”

Lox slowed but didn’t turn the ship and Monday gave a short sigh. “Mava said Kepler was with Lio, but Lio wasn’t with Kepler. If he took off, she could be trying to follow him. Turn around, and fly slower.”

She didn’t know why Kepler would have abandoned Lio, but Monday’s idea made sense.

“Mava, hang on back there.”

“Already done!”

Lox swung the ship around as quickly as it would go and dropped their altitude and speed. Mava had come to stand just behind her seat so she could also see out the front of the ship. They were closing on where she thought Monday must have felt something, but—

“There!” he shouted.

Sure enough, there it was. The faint tickle of another Guardian’s Light, just at the edge of her senses but growing stronger as they got closer and she knew to be looking for it. Her excitement died as she looked more closely out the window and noticed something else.

“Cabal…” Mava whispered.

“Monday, do we know who it is?”

“No response on any channels.”

Lox made a quick decision – Lio or no, if there was a Guardian stranded down there she wasn’t going to let them be hunted by Cabal; they’d done enough killing. Monday disappeared into her mind as she launched herself from her seat.

“Mava, fly for me.”

No questions came from the titan as she took the pilot’s seat with a small nod of “good luck” to Lox as she disappeared from the ship.

Lox was running before she hit the sand and she could feel Monday still materializing armor around her as she pushed herself up the small incline. The ship sailed by overhead and she saw it bank around behind a nearby bluff out of the line of any anti-air fire there might have been. Mava was staying close enough for a quick escape but not wanting to risk the ship.

As Lox launched herself over the top of the hill she took in the scene below – a pair of centurions commanding a handful of legionnaires and psions. One centurion was looking at where her ship had flown over, the other was barking orders and gesturing at a break in the rocks, the rest were taking aim and moving in. None of them had noticed her yet and she grinned as she reached for the void. Its lonely song grew until it was the only thing she could hear and she let her bow sing out, destroying one of the centurions and ensnaring anyone unfortunate enough to be standing nearby.

The Cabal’s unified progress toward the bluff fell apart into chaos as they started to realize what was happening. Some started to turn their attention toward the new threat but before they could fire at the hunter a deafening clang echoed from within the bluff and an explosion of solar Light poured forth. Lox dodged to a better position as a massive blade of solar energy slammed into the tethered Cabal, followed by another and another. She opened fire on those who had managed to avoid her tether and the explosions and it wasn’t long before the area fell silent.

The other Guardian dropped from the sky and she could immediately tell it wasn’t Lio. The exo nodded at her but then abruptly turned and yelled toward the bluff.

“Safe!”

A moment passed before there was movement in the same break the exo had come from and Lox’s heart leapt as soon as she saw the second Guardian.

“Lio!” She shouted as she broke into another sprint. She saw Lio flinch in surprise or fear, saw the other warlock running over, and once again shed her helmet. She slid to a halt just shy of Lio and closed the gap at a more reasonable pace, holding her arms open. Liora looked frozen, like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing and was afraid Lox wasn’t actually there. She glanced from Lox to the other warlock who had his gaze fixed on Lox, trying to figure out who she was or gauge her threat level, maybe.

“Lio, it’s me. It’s ok,” she said softly. “You’re safe now.”

Liora’s eyes welled with tears as she launched herself at Lox, knocking her back a step. Her open arms closed into a tight hug and she could feel the warlock shaking as she sobbed into her armor. Lox rubbed a hand across her shoulders and quietly shushed her.

Liora said something Lox didn’t catch; the words being muffled by her armor and spoken while Monday was talking. She hummed a question at Lio who suddenly broke free from the embraced and cried out, “ _Where were you?_ ”

The question, paired with the strain in her voice, the tear-streaked face, and her torn and dirty robes, gutted Lox more painfully than any death ever had. Silence reigned as she tried to think of what to say.

“Where were you?” Lio asked again, quietly, desperately. “You were supposed to be here. You were supposed to come for us.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” she said, feeling like it wasn’t enough. “I tried _so hard_ to come find you two.”

Liora gave a quiet sob and Lox pulled her back into another hug, trying to pour all the reassurance and apology she could into the embrace.

_Mava’s coming around_ , Monday spoke through her thoughts.

Sand blew around them a few moments later as the ship landed nearby. Liora looked up at the noise and gusts of wind, wiping her eyes as best she could with her dusty sleeve. A quiet gasp escaped her as she saw the titan materialize from transmat, followed by a cry of delight and her pulling free from Lox to go latch onto Mava.

Lox watched her go before letting out a sigh and turning her attention to the other warlock. After his moment of near intervention he’d simply stood to the side and watched the exchange.

“Thank you,” she said, and he peered at her as curiously as an exo could. “For helping her.”

He nodded once and looked over at Liora. “We helped each other. Both lost, broken.”

Lox was momentarily taken aback by his strangely dissonant voice and how he spoke without moving his jaw, but she pushed it aside; that was a mystery for another time, she suspected.

“Do you need a ride to the City?”

“No.”

She blinked. “Are you sure?”

He looked back at her. “This is home.”

She hesitated, but shrugged it off. “If you’re sure. Hey, uh…” she trailed off as she realized she didn’t know his name.

“Hallow,” he filled in.

“Hallow. I’m Lox and… look, I owe you for this. Monday’ll give you our frequencies and if you ever need anything you call me and I’ll be here, got it?”

A trace of white light flickered through his jaw and he nodded. “Much appreciated, Lox. Take care of them.”

Her mouth ticked up into a half-smile. “I will.”

He nodded at her once more and she set off toward her teammates. This day had been too long in coming and while she knew none of them were the same people they were before the Cabal had made the world fall apart, she was just happy her team was finally back together again.


End file.
